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Thomas the Tank Engine
Thomas is a small blue tank engine. His Story Thomas is the main number one hero of the Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends series. Prototype and backstory. When Awdry created Thomas, the engine existed only as a wooden toy made for his son Christopher. This engine looked rather different from the character in the books and television series, and carried the letters NW on its side tanks. Awdry claimed that this stood for "No Where"; as the Railway Series and its backstory developed, the railway Thomas and his friends worked on became known as the North Western Railway. Thomas wasn't originally based on a prototype; rather, the initial stories were an accompaniment to the toy made for Christopher.3 After Awdry's wife encouraged him to publish the stories,4 the publisher of the second book in The Railway Series, Thomas the Tank Engine, hired an illustrator named Reginald Payne. Awdry selected a real locomotive for Payne to work from to create authenticity; a Billinton designed 0-6-0 E2 Class of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. This may have been chosen simply because Awdry had a photograph to hand.3 Thomas is one of half a dozen locomotives fitted with an extension to the front of the water tanks.5 While the language used and the behaviours exhibited often closely resemble those of real locomotives 6 there are some significant and artistic differences. For example, Thomas's wheels are driven by internal cylinders typical of such tank engines. The cranks and connecting rods are therefore not externally visible. Awdry was unsatisfied with one detail of the illustration—the fact that the front end of his footplate featured a downward slope, which meant that his front and back buffers were at different levels. This was an illustrator's mistake that was perpetuated in subsequent books. The accident, in "Thomas Comes to Breakfast" was partly devised as a means of correcting this. Thomas has always been shown with a curved front buffer beam in the television series. Unfortunately, despite creating the visual image of such an iconic character, Payne did not receive any credit for his work, and it is only since the publication of Brian Sibley's The Thomas the Tank Engine Man that he has started to receive major recognition. It had often been erroneously assumed that C. Reginald Dalby created the character, as he was responsible for illustrating books 3–11 and repainting the illustrations of book 1. Thomas arrived on Sodor in 1915, when The Fat Controller bought the locomotive for a nominal sum to be a pilot engine at Vicarstown. After rescuing James in Thomas & the Breakdown Train, he became a "Really Useful Engine" and was rewarded by being put in charge of the Ffarquhar branchline. Although Thomas is seen today on various heritage railways, the last of the LB&SCR E2 class was scrapped in 1963. Despite becoming the most popular character in The Railway Series, Thomas did not actually feature in the first book, The Three Railway Engines (namely Edward, Henry, and Gordon). Thomas was described in the opening to "Thomas and Gordon", the first story in book number two, Thomas the Tank Engine, as: "...a tank engine who lives at a Big Station. He is a cheeky little engine, with six small wheels, a short stumpy funnel, a short stumpy boiler and a short stumpy dome. He's a fussy little engine too, always pulling coaches about. He's a cheeky little engine, too." —from the story "Thomas and Gordon" in Thomas the Tank Engine.8 Thomas was used initially as a station pilot engine in the first three stories in book 2, but longed for more important jobs such as pulling the express train like Gordon; his inexperience prevented this. In the fourth story, Thomas & the Breakdown Train, Thomas rescues James and is rewarded with his own branch line.9 He has remained in charge of the Ffarquhar branch ever since, with his two coaches Annie and Clarabel, and help from Percy and Toby. Thomas is generally depicted with a cheeky and even self-important personality. He believes that he should be more respected by the others, and he gets annoyed when he does not receive this respect. However, Percy and Toby are more than capable of standing up to him, and Annie and Clarabel often rebuke him. He is aware of his fame in the real world, and following a visit to the National Railway Museum at York he became an honorary member of the National Collection, joining such legendary locomotives as Mallard, City of Truro, and Rocket. Thomas has been the source of some friction between Christopher Awdry and his publishers, who repeatedly asked for more books centered around the characterneeded. Although Thomas was the most popular character in the booksneeded, both the Reverend Wilbert and Christopher Awdry had always treated the characters in the books as an ensemble, and so before the television series there had been only ten stories with Thomas named in the title, the four in each of Thomas the Tank Engine and Tank Engine Thomas Again, plus "Thomas in Trouble" (in Toby the Tram Engine) and "Thomas Comes to Breakfast (in Branch Line Engines). After the debut of the television series, there were five books explicitly named after Thomas: (More About Thomas the Tank Engine, Thomas and the Twins, Thomas and the Great Railway Show, Thomas Comes Home, Thomas and the Fat Controller's Engines). Some of these are rather tenuous in their links with the character: Thomas and the Fat Controller's Engines (the 50th anniversary volume, originally to be called The Fat Controller's Engines) has only one story out of the four centred on Thomas; in Thomas Comes Home, Thomas appears only on the last page, the rest of the book dealing with the other engines on his branch line while he was away at York. Main article: Thomas & FriendsThomas's on-screen appearances in the TV series (while in Britain, it was called Thomas & Friends, it was called Shining Time Station when it came to America) were created by Britt Allcroft. The first series of 26 stories premiered in September 1984 on the ITV Network in the UK, with Ringo Starr as storyteller and as Mr. Conductor in the first and second seasons. From 1991 to 1993, George Carlin replaced Starr as both the storyteller and as Mr. Conductor for the US, and continued narrating the stories until 1995. Michael Angelis narrated the series from 1991 to 2012 in the UK, while Michael Brandon narrated the series from 2004 to 2012 in the US. As of 2013, the series is narrated by Mark Moraghan. Thomas's personality was originally faithful to the character of the books. As the show branched away from the novels however, modifications were made. Thomas became noticeably less arrogant and self-absorbed, developing a more altruistic and happy go lucky (if still rather over-excitable) side. He also no longer appears to be limited to his branch line and seems to work all over Sodor. These changes in his personality and duties are a result of his "star" status. He is the most popular character in the series, and therefore he has the largest number of appearances, appearing in all of the DVD specials and the movie Thomas & the Magic Railroad.From Hero of the Rails onward, Thomas is voiced by Martin Sherman (US) and Ben Small (UK). Thomas had his genesis, like Winnie-the-Pooh, in a toy for a small child. A wooden push-along toy from the early 1940s, predating Learning Curve by many decades, is the original Thomas made by the Reverend Awdry out of a piece of broomstick for his son Christopher. However, the Reverend was happy to endorse Payne's account that the locomotive was an LBSC E2, although the first Thomas on the Awdry's model railway, from Stuart Reidpath, lacked extended tanks. In the 1979 Thomas Annual, Awdry wrote: "I bought Thomas in 1948 when I was writing "Tank Engine Thomas Again", and wanted to start modelling once more after a lapse of some twenty years. Thomas was one of Stewart Reidpath's standard models with a heavy, cast white metal body, and was fitted with his "Essar" chassis and motor. Stewart Reidpath is now dead, and his motors, let alone spare parts for them, have been unobtainable for years; but Thomas still keeps going! He is, as you might expect from his age, a temperamental old gentleman, and has to be driven very carefully indeed."After Hornby produced the LBSC E2 tank in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Awdry gladly adapted one to take the role of Thomas on his layout, the Ffarquhar branch. Despite Awdry's requests for models, to which Lines Brothers (later Triang-Hornby) responded with Meccano Percy in 1967, Hornby eventually adapted the tool to be Thomas when they started Railway Series models in the 1980s. He is the only fictional character included in the Independent on Sunday's 2009 "Happy List", recognised alongside 98 real-life adults and a therapy dog for making Britain a better and happier place. Thomas has been referenced, featured and parodied many times in popular culture. In 2009, he appeared in The Official BBC Children in Need Medley where he was voiced by Ringo Starr, who narrated the first two series of Thomas and Friends. In the British comedy show Bobby Davro's TV Weekly, a spoof was created titled "Thomas The Tanked Up Engine" involving Jeremy, the pink engine. Bobby Davro provided the narration by impersonating the original narrator, Ringo Starr. In Cartoon Network's MAD, Thomas the Tank Engine appears in "Thomas the Unstoppable Tank Engine," a crossover between Thomas the Tank Engine and Unstoppable. A parody of Thomas the Tank Engine was in Robot Chicken. The skit was called "Blow Some Steam." He is going to appear in an upcoming movie called Engines United: A Thomas and Friends Movie as the main protagonist. The narrator (Seth Green) spoke like Ringo Starr who was the first narrator for Thomas and Friends. Thomas was voiced by Daniel Radcliffe. He is played in Who Framed Babar Elephant He is Benny the Cab He is a Steam Engine Played in Lumpy a.k.a Dumbo He is Casey Junior He is played Maurice in Beauty and the Queen Elsa of Arendelle (Beauty and the Beast) He is Belle's father He is played Tito in Larry and Company He is played Bernard in The Rescuers (Hiatt Grey Style) He is a Mouse. Relationship *Home: Island of Sodor *Train Built: Steamie *Appearance: Blue tank engine with 6 wheels, black smokebox, red chassis, black buffers, grey face, yellow portholes and white lamp *Personality: Cheeky, goofy, funny, kind, friendly, clever, smart, cute, wise *Numbers: 1 *Gender: Male *Affiliations: Good *Allies: Edward the Blue Engine (father and good friend), Henry the Green Engine, Gordon the Big Engine, James the Red Engine (brother), Percy the Small Engine (best friend), Toby the Tram Engine, Duck the Great Western Engine, Donald and Douglas the Scottish Twin Engines, Oliver the Great Western Engine, Emily the Beautiful Engine (girlfriend), Murdoch the Strong Engine (uncle), Arthur the LMS Tank Engine, Spencer the Silver Engine (sometimes), Mavis the Quarry Diesel ,BoCo the Metropolitan Vickers Diesel, Bill and Ben the Saddle Tank Engine Twins (good friends and pals), Fergus the Railway Traction Engine, Annie and Clarabel, Old Slow Coach, Stanley, Stepney (son), Bertie, Terence, Butch, Trevor the Traction Engine, Caroline, Harold, Skarloey,Rheneas, Sir Handel, Peter Sam, Rusty, Duncan, Duke, Freddie, Mighty Mac, Luke, Bertram, Ivo Hugh, Molly the Yellow Engine (mother and wonderful friend), Rosie, Lady (beautiful magical friend),Belle (beautiful friend), Millie, Stephen, Bash, Dash, and Ferdinand the Logging Locos, Hiro (grandfather), Flynn, Connor, Caitlin, Stafford, Winston the Red Car, Victor, Kevin the Crane, Dennis, Charlie the Purple Engine, Billy, Salty, Porter, Harvey, Elizabeth (sometimes), Cranky(sometimes), Jack, Alfie, Oliver the Excavator, Kelly, Ned, Buster the Steam Roller, Nelson, Paxton,Neville, Captain, Owen, Merrick, Hank, Flora, Pip and Emma, Jinty and Pug, Green Arrow, Iron Duke,Wilbert the Forest Engine, City of Truro *Enemies: Devious Diesel, 'Arry and Bert, Daisy, Diesel 10, Splatter and Dodge, Stanley (formerly), Spencer (sometimes), Elizabeth (sometimes), Cranky (sometimes), Max and Monty, George, Bulgy , Den, Dart, Norman, Paxton (only in Day of the Diesels), Sidney, D261, The Horrid Lorries, S. C. Ruffey, Troublesome Trucks Category:Thomas & Friends Characters Category:Heroes Category:Protagonists Category:Blue Characters Category:Trains Category:Steam Engines Category:Male Characters Category:Characters Category:Hiatt Grey's Ohana Category:World